There are different ways of enterally administrating liquid nutrient and/or liquid medicine to a patient. One way of enteral feeding is by gravity. A feeding tube, such as a nasogastric feeding tube, running from a container of liquid nutrients and/or medicine is inserted into the stomach of the patient, and the liquid flows, by gravity, into the stomach of the patient. Gravity feeding delivers a large amount of liquid in a short period of time. Another way of enterally feeding is by using a peristaltic pump that delivers the liquid to the patient at a controlled rate of delivery. Peristaltic feeding pumps are well known in the art.
Enterally feeding adults and children by either gravity feeding or using peristaltic pump is typically satisfactory. However, these types of feeding are typically not satisfactory for enterally feeding neonates, such as neonates born prematurely, who may require a feeding rate of 1 mL per hour, or even as low as 0.1 mL per hour. Gravity feeding is not satisfactory typically because the liquid is delivered much too quickly in an uncontrolled manner. Moreover, feeding by a peristaltic pump is not satisfactory typically because the peristaltic pumps also delivery the liquid too quickly and are not precise enough to accurately deliver the small amounts of liquid necessary for neonatal use.
Because of the unsatisfactory results of feeding neonates by gravity and using a peristaltic pump, syringe pumps are currently used for neonatal enteral feeding. Syringe pumps are typically precise and have low flow rates. A common syringe pump suitable for neonatal enteral feeding includes a syringe loaded on a pump device. The pump device includes a piston that engages a plunger of the syringe. The piston is aligned with the plunger and moves linearly to depress the plunger and expel the liquid out the syringe to deliver the liquid to the patient. Typically, the liquid, such as breast milk, may be in a container and an amount of the liquid is loaded into the syringe manually before the syringe is loaded onto the pump device.